Getting your baby to sleep through the night Dr

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Sarah - posted on 08/23/2013

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My suggestion would be to not feed him. Right now that has become the habit. At 11 months old he does not need to be fed in the middle of the night. What has happened is that that is the only way he knows how to fall asleep. So when he wakes (which many babies and people do wake for brief periods of time....the sleep cycle) he has not learned how to put himself back to sleep, so the only way he knows how to go back to sleep is with the bottle. With my first it was not the bottle instead it was me rocking him to sleep. Then he became too big to lay down without him waking up as I was trying to lay him down and then we had to start all over again. There are lots of different ways you can change the habit. One is to put water in the bottle instead of milk for when he wakes in the middle of the night. As this is also better for his teeth and will not cause decay. Another would be to stop with the bottle all together. You can go in after he has cried for 10 mins and then rub his back, reassure him it is ok and then leave. And wait 15 mins and go back in and do the same again. Then wait 20 mins and so on increasing each time by 5 mins. The first nights are going to be LONG.....BUT if you stick with it IT DOES WORK! Another way, which worked better with my son is to just let him cry it out.....again the first few nights are the WORSE. I had found that if I went into his room it made it worse as he then expected me to pick him up and rock him. If I stayed out he settled down sooner. Bottom line is that you have to change the habit if you want to change the behavior. Right now the habit is when I wake, I cry, I get fed. You have to teach him that when he wakes, he can put himself back to sleep. My kids are 15 yrs, 12 yrs, and 2 yrs. The only one I rocked to sleep EVERY night was the 15 yr old. I learned with my other two. We would rock, but I would lay them down before they were asleep. All sleep very well and have no issues.

Excellent advice from Sarah, and exactly what I would have said (if I'd had time to jump back in this morning!)

Rachael, just remember that this is a learning time for him, and possibly a frustrating time for you, but you'll get through it just fine. Teaching how to self soothe, and how to restructure a routine are very important at this stage. Although, like Sarah also mentioned, it will be tough on you, mom, to hear him crying and learning to self soothe.

1: How old? Most babies don't sleep more than 2-3 hours at a stretch for the first few months.

2: how long DOES baby stay down for? Most doctors (and pretty much everyone) will tell you that sleeping 5-6 hours at a stretch is considered "sleeping through". Your baby is not going to automatically sleep for 8-10 hours at a stretch.